Indian Army - Welfare Activities

Rehabilitation of Disabled Soldiers

Various institutions being run for rehabilitation of the disabled soldiers are as given in succeeding paras.

Queen Mary Technical Institute Pune. The institute conducts ITI recognized vocational training for disabled servicemen and their dependents. The institute is funded out of grants from various Govt and Non-Govt agencies, AG's Branch and from Corpus Fund of the institute. Courses conducted by the institute commence on 01 Aug. Applications from serving personnel are processed through CW- 5 section of Ceremonials and Welfare Directorate and the Directorate General of Re settlement. Various disciplines in which the courses are conducted are as under :-

  • Fitter, electrician and radio/TV mechanic courses of two years duration.
  • Diesel mechanic course of one year duration.
  • Stenography (English) course of one year duration.
  • Cutting and tailoring course of one year duration.

Paraplegic Homes. Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centres (PRC) at Kirkee and Mohali with a capacity of 80 and 30 beds respectively are being run for rehabilitation of paraplegic and tetraplegic exservicemen. These are being run as charitable trusts registered with the respective state government. In addition to these, a case is being processed with the Ministry of Defence for release of grant for establishing a Paraplegic Home at Lucknow. A vocational training centre has been established near Paraplegic Home Mohali for rehabilitation training of paraplegics. These institutions are funded by Kendriya Sainik Board, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, AG’s Branch and other state Govt/Private organisations. Postal address of PRC Kirkee and Mohali are as under:-

Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre
Park Road, Kirkee
Pune-411 020
(Maharashtra)


Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre
SAS Nagar(Mohali)Phase VI,
Dist Roopnagar (Punjab) -160 055


St Dunstan's After Care Organisation, Dehradun. The institution provides rehabilitation training financial support and psychological support to blinded serving personnel and ex-servicemen. This is funded by Kendriya Sainik Board and Oxford University Press Delhi. A contribution of Rs 4 Lakh from the Army and Rs 1 lakh each by Navy and Air Force was provided to the institution in 2001 for setting up a corpus fund. The address of the organisation is as under:-

St Dunstan's After care Organisation
116 Rajpur Road
Dehradun.


ISSUE OF INDENTITY CARDS TO DISABLED EX-SERVICEMEN. The Ministry of Social Justice andamp; Empowerment have requested the States/ Union Territories Administration to prescribe the procedure for issuing Identity Card to disabled ex-servicemen. Appropriate authority for issuing the cards would be designated keeping in the view the convenience of the disabled ex-servicemen. The cards can also be distributed through Rajya Sainik Boards/Zila SainikBoards and Army Formation Headquarters on the basis of disability certificate given by competent medical authority in the Defence Forces. For further information the Rajya Sainik Boards/Zila Sainik Boards may be contacted.

(Authority : Ministry of Social Justice andamp; Empowerment letter No 16-21/97-NI.I dated 27 Dec 2000).

Welfare of Nepalese Domiciled Ex-Servicemen

Bus Facility from Gorakhpur to Sunauli, Sunauli to Pokhra and Back. One Army bus from Gorakhpur to Sunauli and back is plying daily on "No profit No loss basis" for conveyance of servicemen, ex-servicemen and their dependents. Another link bus from Sunauli to Pokhara on similar lines will commence operating shortly.

Medical Team. 13 medical teams visit Nepal every year for treatment of ex-servicemen. Due to budgetary constraints, 11 medical teams visited Nepal during 2001-02.The following activities were undertaken by the medical teams:-

Eye Team
Patients treated
Operations Carried out
Spectacles Provided
2001-2002
1751
21
170
   
Medical Teams
Patients treated
ECG done

1844
92